Chapter 174: The Whereabouts of the

The share is not much, but it is clear that Lao Zhao has truly shown sincerity.

The people at the Zhao Family sugar workshop are still a cut below in terms of technique.

Qingyi Daozhang grows smug once again.

As for money and grain, he is actually no longer lacking. So many benefactors and followers are enough to provide for him.

He simply does not want to work for nothing.

I, this Daoist Priest, am a person of status! I am not some beast of burden you can order around at will!

Now, the share Wen Gu mentioned is a sign of respect for his technique, and it also shows him the Zhao Family's attitude, leaving him immediately satisfied.

"It still has to rely on me!"

Can that "expert" from the Zhao Family do it? He can't do a damn thing!

Wen Gu offers a few flattering words to play along, then urges him to hurry up and refine the product.

Qingyi Daozhang is in a good mood right now, so he does not bicker with the dog, only telling the other party to leave quickly.

The task of refining sugar has been issued, and Wen Gu does not continue to hinder Qingyi Daozhang from refining sugar here.

Returning to the Patrol Guard Division, he goes to the West Office to find Fu Pian.

Fu Pian has returned from raiding the bandit den and continues to investigate that "military advisor" of the Caishan Horse Bandits.

As soon as Wen Gu enters the door, he sees that Fu Pian's face seems to be clouded with gloom.

"Not going well?" Wen Gu asks.

"Hard to investigate." Fu Juan flips through the case files, "I've already asked around the markets; these are all the organized case files. There are too many, they have to be sifted through slowly." Wen Gu looks at the organized case files and asks, "Are they all here?"

"They are all here, it's enough, it gives me a headache." Fu Pian curls his fingers and taps his forehead; he really is not good at these things. Wen Gu flips through them roughly and says, "Let's try it first."

Fu Pian is puzzled: "What? How do we try?"

Wen Gu organizes these documents and letters and says, "I'll take them to the East Office. If you are interested, you can come along."

Fu Pian gets up to follow. He needs to see how the East Office handles this kind of matter and go learn some experience.

After finishing the accounts, the four members of the East Office clerical staff go to the canteen together to have a meal.

The three clerks are very satisfied with this new handyman.

A huge help!

If Han Lian hadn't arrived in time, the three of them wouldn't have finished organizing the accounts even if they worked for a whole day!

As a handyman, Han Lian feels quite embarrassed to be praised so highly by the three clerks. He also feels that the atmosphere here is harmonious, without being ostracized or having others use their status to pressure him.

From beginning to end, it is a feeling of being valued and cared for!

However, upon arriving at the canteen, Han Lian notices that the gazes of the people around them are a bit strange.

The martial staff are fine, most are quite friendly. The civil staff, however, are not approachable, and the looks they cast over are subtle.

Regardless of status or rank, it is an indiscriminate, hard-to-describe, special kind of emotion.

Han Lian asks Clerk Lu in a low voice: "Why are they looking at us with such eyes?"

Clerk Lu keeps a straight face: "Who knows, envy, jealousy, and hatred, perhaps."

Han Lian understands.

It is said that the two recent major merits of the Patrol Guard Division were both achieved by the East Office, and they received the most rewards.

Sure enough, they are being envied, jealous of, and hated by their colleagues!

At the same time, the other civil staff who see the four members of the East Office exchange glances with each other.

【It's them!】

【Coming to eat only now, they must be grinding hard again!】

【Damn bunch of overachievers!】

Bearing the many subtle gazes, the four members of the East Office eat calmly.

On the way back to the East Office from the canteen, there is no rush, so the four walk slowly.

Clerk Lu tells the new handyman about the rules and taboos of the Patrol Guard Division.

"You must follow the rules here, never be negligent or careless!"

Han Lian nods: "When I entered today, I did indeed feel that the Patrol Guard Division is heavily guarded."

When he entered, his identity was verified several times.

It was only thanks to the supporting document written by Station Master Cheng, and Wen Gu specifically mentioning it to the gatekeeper, that he was able to enter smoothly.

Clerk Lu says: "It wasn't actually this strict before, but something just happened, and there was some personnel turnover, so the atmosphere is a bit more serious." Clerk Fang also says: "The matter of the Caishan Horse Bandits didn't happen long ago, and more than twenty people who made mistakes were kicked out; no one dares to slack off."

Cheng Zhi says very seriously: "The brighter the day, the more one must be on guard!"

He was shocked when he heard that the Caishan Horse Bandits ran to steal from the warehouse in the middle of the day.

His previous stereotype was that thieves always steal things at night; his mindset hadn't shifted for a moment, so he was especially shocked that day. Clerk Lu says: "Xinzhou City uses the Ward System; the ward gates are open during the day, and the city gates are open too. If the horse bandits had changed into Patrol Guard Division uniforms that day, used a fake token, pretended to be on urgent official business, and taken advantage of everyone being wilted by the midday sun, then coordinated with an inside man in the City Defense Army, it is very likely they would have charged out!"

Han Lian suddenly realizes.

Oh right, Xinzhou City has restarted the ward-market system, and the ward gates open and close on time every day, which is indeed different from other towns.

Must get used to it as soon as possible!

Clerk Fang reminds him again: "When on duty, you must also guard against your colleagues; previously, a Clerk was drugged by someone he was familiar with. And you must never let anyone stand in for you on duty!"

As they speak, their voices lower.

Everyone knows these things; they are not classified and can be used as casual topics for after-tea conversation.

"There was a Clerk in the Patrol Guard Division who found a mistress outside. He often spent the night at the mistress's place, and if he couldn't get up the next day, he would have the younger brother of that mistress wear his clothes and stand duty for him."

"Their tasks were simple, just requiring a bit of effort. By greeting familiar colleagues and having two or three people look out for them, they could cover it up perfectly."

"And then a mishap occurred! That day, they almost let the horse bandits succeed!"

Those Clerks were all ordinary military households before, but now the Patrol Guard Division is different; their status has been raised, and their monthly salary is high, so they all started having thoughts of seeking pleasure outside, and even helped each other cover up.

In corners that go unnoticed, the Patrol Guard Division leaks like a sieve. This time, having been taken advantage of by the Caishan Horse Bandits, Lao Zhao was furious and kicked them all out. Han Lian pricked up his ears to listen to the gossip.

He asked, "The person who took his shift, is that really the younger brother of his mistress?"

Clerk Fang said in a low voice, "Fake, that's his mistress's lover! And also a member of the Caishan Horse Bandits!"

Han Lian: "Oh, oh~"

On his first day on duty, he got to eat the melons of his colleagues... his former colleagues.

The four of them gathered together to eat melons and chat, and when they returned to the East Office, Wen Gu and Fu Pian were already there.

The four of them immediately straightened their expressions and saluted the two Deputy Envoys.

As soon as Clerks Fang and Lu saw Wen Gu, they felt nervous inside. They had just finished a busy day, and now they had to work overtime again?

Clerk Lu asked with a hanging heart, "Deputy Envoy Wen, is there an urgent matter?"

"Nothing else, Cheng Zhi stay behind."

Fang and Lu understood in their hearts, so they didn't ask any more questions and went straight back to the clerical room.

Once in the clerical room, with no one else around, they spoke more freely.

Clerk Lu said to Han Lian, "The one next to Deputy Envoy Wen just now, the one holding the short club, the one who looks hard to provoke, is the Deputy Envoy of the West Office, surnamed Fu. You can call him Bailuo Deputy Envoy or Bolu Deputy Envoy. The 'Bolu' from the shrike bird. But he prefers to hear people call him Bailuo Deputy Envoy." Han Lian made a note of it.

He was a bit curious, why did the two Deputy Envoys keep Clerk Cheng behind?

But he didn't dare to ask directly, not knowing if this was considered a taboo.

Moreover, among the three clerks in the clerical room, the Deputy Envoy only kept Clerk Cheng; he wondered if Clerks Fang and Lu would feel any resentment?

Han Lian looked up and saw Clerk Lu sipping tea with a look of contentment, and Clerk Fang leaning back in his chair very relaxed, as if enjoying this moment of leisure. Han Lian:???

Clerk Lu glanced at him and said, "Don't think too much, Deputy Envoy Wen keeping Clerk Cheng behind has nothing to do with personal favors or position."

Han Lian: "Then what is it?"

"Talent!"

Clerk Lu continued, "Some things are innate; if you can't do them, you can't. So, there are some things he can handle, but we can't, no matter how hard we try!"

"Just like how you can use an abacus, and while using the abacus, you can also count in your head. We can't do that. Understand? Talent!"

Han Lian was even more curious: "What is Clerk Cheng's talent?"

Clerk Lu smiled and didn't say.

Never speak too deeply to those you don't know well.

Han Lian could understand. He was a newcomer, so there were some things he couldn't say too much about. Once he was familiar and the level of trust deepened, they would naturally talk about the other side.

Wen Gu's study.

First, he had Cheng Zhi "input" the information.

Then, with blueprints and brushes, one question and one answer, the scene was reconstructed.

Fu Pian watched from the side, stunned, with "WTF" scrolling across his mind like a barrage.

He looked at Wen Gu, then looked at Cheng Zhi. Heartbroken!

Why doesn't my West Office clerical room have this kind of talent?!

Fu Pian was bubbling with jealousy while staring at Wen Gu drawing the diagram.

The Caishan Horse Bandits communicated with their "strategist," and the letters were often placed in different locations, with the location written in the "strategist's" previous letter. On the blueprint, all the clues turned into lines and various symbols used for marking.

After that, it was the records of purchases made by wealthy families during those days of communication, to see which ones intersected with these lines.

The current situation is not like before, and the choices of goods in the market are few, so wealthy families basically only go shopping once every few days. The things they buy are just those few items.

As for grain, the wealthy families basically don't lack it. Most of the time, the stewards go to the market to buy fresh fruits and vegetables, meat, and firewood or coal, or to buy building materials for renovating houses.

When dealing with distinguished guests, people in the market usually reserve the best for them in advance.

And the specific transaction times are all recorded in the market's account books. If the Patrol Guard Division wants to check, they can certainly find them.

Once these clues were marked, several suspicious targets were selected, and then they were eliminated one by one.

Finally, Wen Gu and Fu Pian fixed their gazes on one place.

"People from the Yangchuan Bofu!"

Fu Pian couldn't care about his shock; he stared at the lines on the blueprint.

The letter-receiving locations marked on the blueprint were all relatively close to the carriage routes used by the Bofu for shopping.

"That person could hide in the Bofu's shopping carriage and get off when they get close to where the letter is placed. When the Bofu people finish shopping and return, they can pick him up on the way."

They had previously guessed that the place where that "strategist" was hiding was likely related to the powerful and noble.

And among these suspicious targets, the most noble status was only the Yangchuan Bofu.

This noble person not only has a count title and comes from a prominent family, but more importantly, Yangchuan Bofu is an old acquaintance of Lao Zhao and gave Lao Zhao great support at the beginning of the chaotic times. He has plenty of confidence!

Fu Pian suddenly had a toothache.

He asked Wen Gu: "You say, if the horse bandits' 'strategist' is really hiding in the Bofu, does Yangchuan Bofu know?"

Wen Gu said: "We'll only know after asking in person."

Fu Pian frowned tightly: "This one is not easy to handle."

If Yangchuan Bofu intends to block them, they really won't be able to continue investigating.

When the Zhao Family took Xinzhou, Princess Guangning contributed,

and Yangchuan Bofu also contributed. In fact, Yangchuan Bofu even acted as a go-between for the Zhuo Family coming to Xinzhou.

This Count's political connections are very strong.

In Xinzhou, sometimes, Princess Guangning, hindered by her royal status, will make concessions.

But Yangchuan Bofu is different. He doesn't take the initiative to cause trouble, but he is definitely not afraid of trouble. If you really provoke him, it won't be easy to end.

For example, if the Patrol Guard Division goes directly to his door to ask, it might make this Count feel offended.

"Very tricky!" Fu Pian said.

Going to Yangchuan Bofu to find someone was not very suitable for Fu Juan. He was a rough man, and his reputation outside was not very pleasant; if he really went knocking on the door, he would very likely be chased out by that old Earl.

It was better to leave it to Wen Gu. A scholar was more appropriate.

Wen Gu had no objections.

He truly wanted to go and meet this noble person. The Earl of Yangchuan... was quite wealthy.

Before Fu Pian left the East Office, he looked at Cheng Zhi with greedy eyes, very much wanting to raise his hand to touch Cheng Zhi's precious head, yet worried about breaking it. He asked Wen Gu: "Where did you find this kind of talent?"

Wen Gu said: "I met him while fleeing from disaster."

Fu Pian sighed: "You are truly lucky!"

Returning to the West Office.

Just in time to see two clerks from the West Office's study returning from outside.

Fu Pian sized them up with a critical gaze, his face full of disdain.

The two West Office clerks were used to it; they turned around and whispered a few words to each other.

"Who provoked him again?"

"Don't know, the horse bandits, maybe."